tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2511884127939942172017-02-08T20:50:37.291-08:00The Drawing HandsDrawing, painting, art. Drawing lessons and tutorials. Learn how to draw!Drawing Handshttps://plus.google.com/103934296408587372581noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125TheDrawingHandshttps://feedburner.google.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-251188412793994217.post-5928134012063709082012-08-10T15:04:00.001-07:002012-08-10T15:36:15.036-07:00Lesson 3 - About realism<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GQbceRAHQHg" width="560"></iframe><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br />Hello everyone. Let’s face with a sort of classic in the world of YouTube how-to videos: drawing a realistic eye.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This time I started by following the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">classical</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">approach</i> that I explained in one of my first tutorials. I used no reference picture at all, but of course you can’t do without having well observed live models before. Only after that you can proceed by memory. You’d better study also a bit of anatomy, because once you know how the human body works inside, you can better represent it on its <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">outside</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As you can see, I use cross hatching for my shading, even if I plan to smooth it after, because I like to have a rough idea of how my drawing will look like in the end. Moreover, it's easier to correctly balance shadows and lights, and it's useful to avoid ending up with a too dark drawing.<br />I suggest you to choose what to blend and which parts and shades you want to make sharper. Don't smudge everything if you don't want your drawing to look somewhat <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rubbery</i> and unrealistic, even if very detailed.<br />Remember that there are two types of shadows: the object’s own shadows and those ones cast by surrounding elements (or by extruded parts of the same object). Every surface also reflects on the nearest ones, so you have an additional gradation of shading: highlight - light – mid tone – shadow – reflection.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I already said that realism is a matter of correctly balancing shadows and lights. After all, even when using a very rough technique, good shading can give your work a great realistic look. Furthermore, this depends a lot on the distance of the observer. Is perfectly useless to thoroughly blend a painting or a drawing, if you'll put it on a high ceiling or you'll be looking at it from a great distance, because the eye will ignore all tiny details, and perceive your hatching as a smooth surface, but of course, you have to pay great attention to all tone gradations, shadows and lights intensity, reflections, deep blacks and bright highlights.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you are working on a small drawing or painting and you’re still aiming to photorealistic results, you have to smooth your shadows in order to make all lines and strokes disappear. You can do it using your fingers, but be careful because if you have oily skin you can stain your work irreparably. For large areas you can use a piece of fabric, while for smaller ones and for details you can use a blending stump.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In this video, you see how I draw a quite realistic eye. As it may seem strange – and after all, this is not a how-to video – my advice is: if you want to do the same, don’t copy what I’m doing but look in the mirror and try to do it by yourself! Drawing self-portraits is a great way of training, never underestimate it, because it helps to achieve high observation ability, and you can work for hours with a definitely inexpensive model!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A few more words about details: when we look at a drawings made by a child we often think that it’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wrong</i> or unrealistic. Indeed it is just <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">incomplete</i>. The more our mental idea of something lacks in details, the more we tend to draw it in a simplified way. The best example is the stick figure we use to represent the human body. Just think about it, a stick figure is already <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">correct</i>: it has arms, legs, body, head, and sometimes even elbows and knees. The more details we add (thickness, muscles, face features, hands, fingers), the more or figure will look <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">realistic. </i>So, it’s all about adding details, but adding details needs observation. And this is the key for better drawings: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">observation</i>. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Better</i> doesn’t mean <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">realistic</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">better</i> means complete, correct, close to the idea we want to represent. And this is another central point of my approach. If you need any further info, please feel free to contact me here, through my website or on my Facebook page. I hope my tutorials can be somewhat useful for you.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Have fun with drawing! And thanks for watching!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;"><br /></div>Drawing Handshttps://plus.google.com/103934296408587372581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-251188412793994217.post-23708478639008297192012-08-04T06:56:00.003-07:002012-08-04T06:56:37.053-07:00How I did it - PEGASUS<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IOBfr3l3L-M" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hello everyone!</span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Have you seen my drawing “Pegasus”? Ok, I’m going to show you how this work has been done.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This is a good example of how I’m used to proceed. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Let me tell you before, that it often happens that the idea comes to life while I’m actually working on it. This is the case.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I started with a fast sketch based on a reference picture. Initially, I just wanted to draw a white horse with a some trees in the background.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I proceeded then with a very light hatching in order to define some volumes.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">At this time, I had the idea to turn the horse into a winged one, a Pegasus flying on a cloudy sky. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>So I added the wing and a few lines where I would have approximately drawn the clouds.<br /></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Since I wanted to work on a more realistic drawing, I decided to use a blending stump, in addition to my fingers, to smudge my hatching. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I also changed the hind legs position, in fact, I wanted my horse to fly, and then, I darkened the whole picture a bit. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But I was not happy with the result, because the wing looked too small and static. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So I changed the wings position, and kept on shading the whole drawing.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Before starting to smudge, I wanted to have an idea of how it would have looked. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The lower part seemed a bit poor, but I decided not to care, for now. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I started then to smudge with my fingers and with the blending stump.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">While I was shading, I thought that, instead of aiming to hyper-realistic results, I wanted to give my drawing an epic look, and the classical approach would have perfectly suited the needs. So I stopped to look at the reference pictures for shadows, but only for some details. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The more we want a drawing to look realistic, the more we must pay attention to the relationship between the various shadows gradations. The outlines should disappear: in fact, they only have to be suggested by the contrasts between tones.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">For details such as the mane, I definitely left the reference picture, because I preferred to give the various locks the shape I wanted, in order to achieve a more classical feel.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I proceeded gradually, darkening the various areas, step by step. I used a kneaded eraser to obtain the highlights, and a thin slice of a common eraser for the very sharp ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The lower part was definitely poor, so I changed my mind again, and decided to add some grass. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rather than a flat terrain, I decided to play with different heights, in order to create a kind of basin, which would have given some emphasis to the movement of the wings (in fact the outline repeats the wings direction)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ok, the drawing was almost done, it was just time to add some further details, and make shadows a bit smoother here and there. I choose to leave some blurriness at certain points, to suggest a bit of movement, but most of all, to ensure that the observer focuses on those details that I want.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As you can see, realism is just a matter of working a lot on tiny details, smooth nuances, tones relationships and slight variations. Or better said, a matter of patience. Well, I hope this helped a bit, feel free to contact me for any question, here, on my Facebook page, or through my website.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Have fun with drawing!<o:p></o:p></span></div>Drawing Handshttps://plus.google.com/103934296408587372581noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-251188412793994217.post-34824775262175191352012-07-18T06:18:00.002-07:002012-07-18T06:31:13.133-07:00Lesson 2 - About Imitation<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yz-C43p3hzQ" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hello everyone!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In this second lesson I want to spend a few words about a basic concept of the classical approach (and therefore of my style). I’m talking about what the ancient Greeks called MIMESIS (μίμησις), a word that we use to translate with “imitation”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">For a great number of artists, the more a piece of work correctly imitates the nature, the more it can be considered true art. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After all, we somewhat inherited that same vision, since we very often use to say: “it looks real!” when we appreciate a drawing, a painting or a sculpture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, shall we say that something is art, if it just looks “hyper-realistic”? Well, not exactly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>That sort of “perfect imitation”, in fact, has not to be intended as the exact copy, of what we can find in nature, but it’s about imitating the nature, in its whole “creating process”. In other words, we don’t have, e.g., to simply copy a human body, but we should try, to re-create it on our canvas, sheet, or plastic material. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">That’s why, understanding proportions and knowing the human anatomy, is essential, because we have to give life to a new creature, even if only a “virtual” one. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Aside that, the final result can be far from being photorealistic, nevertheless our figure will look alive!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A little example: there are two ways of representing a simple blade of grass (as well as a single hair). The non-mimetic one, in which we just copy the shape, regardless to its “nature”; and the mimetic one, in which we know (and follow) the direction where it grows. Both results may look similar, but the second one is also conceptually correct.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">About figure drawing, the outline of a body tells us a lot about its nature, because it suggests inner structures and forms, and a very slight variation of the contour, can give life to the whole drawing. So pay attention to those small bulges and depressions, because the strength of your drawing may depend a lot on them.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The cross hatching can be another way to perform our analysis, since we can use it to investigate, and better understand, shapes and volumes. Furthermore, it gives to our work that vibrating look that imitates those slight variations of the light, or those small movements of a living creature, but also the real yet <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>invisible swarming of cells, atoms and particles.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So the basic idea is to understand the nature and structure of what we are going to represent the best we can. On my blog, you can find a few suggestions about good books on Art Anatomy, but if you feel like studying quantum mechanics, or botanic, or astronomy, just do it: feel free to investigate the reality in such directions, Leonardo Da Vinci would be proud of you!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Happy drawing!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And thanks for watching!</span></div>Drawing Handshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03068608362778503872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-251188412793994217.post-92103843525742405202012-07-16T07:48:00.001-07:002012-07-16T07:59:01.261-07:00Exercise 2 - Cross Hatching (Transcription)<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/h4T472c93AM" width="420"></iframe><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hello everyone!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In my first exercise video, I put the basis for the technique of <strong>cross hatching</strong>.<br />So, let’s spend a few more words on it!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can shade your picture in many different ways. The very basic one is just called <em>hatching</em>, or sometimes <em>45 degrees hatching</em>. The direction of the strokes never changes and the angle is about 45 degrees. Darker tones are obtained overlaying layer upon layer, always striving to obtain a regular texture. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rough and spaced strokes give your drawing a fresh and sketchy effect, while fine strokes and delicate passages may help you achieve more realistic results. Let’s take a fast look at how it works. The angle of the strokes must be the most comfortable for you, so if you are left-handed, you may want to do it in the opposite way. It actually doesn’t need to be in a particular angle. Feel free to try also other solutions,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>e.g. a horizontal, or a vertical hatching. The finest your hatching will be, the most realistic, yet vibrant, your drawing will look. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>To put some highlights you can use a kneaded eraser (also known as “putty rubber”), like I always do.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">About <em>cross hatching</em>, the basic idea is very simple: just as for the classic hatching, we have to proceed layer by layer, but this time we must change the angle on every pass.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In case of curved surfaces, the hatching can also ideally follow the shape of the drawn object, creating a sort of curved grid. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Shade like you were actually drawing on the real surface of the model.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>That’s the reason why the best thing would be to draw from life: because you can observe your model from different angles, understanding shapes and volumes. Furthermore, you can better realize if a dark area is a shadow, or simply a differently colored zone. In any case, try to fully understand what you are going to draw. This is the way I do it.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, In this exercise, we want to copy a bas relief using the technique of cross hatching. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">For optimal results, I suggest you to copy from a black and white sculpture (either a real one, or a photo), because color can be misleading, for now.</span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Try to capture and reproduce the different shadow tones and, remember: always get to black step by step. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can look at what I do, but feel free to do everything in a different order. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>Just try to work on the picture as a whole; complete it gradually, make it emerge from the sheet, as if you were actually carving a stone. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you wish you can comment on my blog and post a link to your picture, so everyone can see it... and maybe I can give you a few more tips.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Have a great time with drawing! And thanks for watching!</span></div>Drawing Handshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03068608362778503872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-251188412793994217.post-44700846699946193522012-02-04T15:56:00.000-08:002012-02-04T15:56:50.693-08:00Exercise 1 - Tone Scale (Transcription)<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/D5VNYAR3220" width="560"></iframe><br /><br />Welcome everyone to this series of training video on drawing.<br />We’ll start with basic exercises, increasing difficulties from time to time. Try not to overlook even the most simple ones, because they are absolutely essential!<br />Of course they relate to my approach to drawing, so please refer to my drawing lessons as well. Keep in mind that other people could do the same things in a totally different way. This is the way I do it.<br />This first exercise will help you improve your shading ability, as well as getting more confident with the pencil stroke.<br /><br />We will use a single pencil to get the different shades. I recommend a B pencil or a 2B one; you can choose the brand you prefer the most. Avoid harder pencils, for now, because they would make it quite impossible to get deep blacks, and softer pencils (from 3B up) too. They’re good for very dark tones, but not on the purpose of this exercise. <br /><br />Start drawing a rectangle (let’s say about 10 inches width per 1 inch height), and divide it into 10 equal squares. Feel free to use a ruler if you like. What we want to do, is a tone scale, as gradual as possible, going from white to black. On this purpose we will use the technique of cross-hatching. <br />So, how to start? First and foremost, don’t fill each square after another, because you could get to black too quickly, thus having the last two or three squares very similar each other. <br />You’d rather want to create a first layer of very light gray along the whole strip, leaving the first square untouched. Proceed then with the next steps, starting from the second square, then the third, and so on. Change the direction of the hatch on every pass, trying to maintain a constant pressure and a uniform distance between the various strokes. <br /><br />It may happen that as soon as you get to the last square, you realize that two of them are too similar each other, or that the last one is not dark enough. It’s not a problem, because it’s very easy to add new passes to darken the boxes, starting from the one that seems most similar to the previous, or even increasing the contrast on all squares - always starting from the first ones. Do it until you are satisfied with the result. Finally, if you like, you can refine your work to make it look a bit better.<br />Once you have completed the exercise successfully, you can increase the difficulty by increasing the number of squares. This same exercise can also be performed with color pencils, watercolors or oil painting: indeed, it’s very good to get skilled on managing layers and transparencies.<br /><br />You can also try to apply this technique along with the copy of real objects. The main idea is to work on all shades gradually, getting to black step by step, and, most important: always working on the whole drawing in one time.<br />Needless to say, repeat this exercise dozens of times. Do not settle for doing it once or two! Increase the difficulty instead! Do it when you will be more experienced as well, it is a useful training also for professional artists. <br /><br />Have a great time!Drawing Handshttps://plus.google.com/103934296408587372581noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-251188412793994217.post-48715193034209365902012-02-04T15:51:00.000-08:002012-02-04T15:51:42.167-08:00Lesson 1 - Before You Start (Transcription)<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qB2jhySRTXs" width="560"></iframe><br /><br />Welcome everyone to this new series of short tutorials on drawing.<br />Starting with the very basics and then working into a few advanced topics, I am going to explain my personal approach to drawing.Fortunately, there are so many methods today, so that we can really choose the one that best suits our needs. I hope that what I’m going to say will be somewhat useful for you.<br />First of all, you’ll never find any classic step-by-step tutorial here. Instead, I’ll try to make you grasp a few basic concepts that will help you improve by yourself and develop your own personal style. In fact, once you’re done with all my tutorials, I’ll be particularly happy if you will end up having a style completely different from mine. In other words, you have to find your own way.<br />Please don’t feel disappointed, if some of my hints may apparently seem a bit impractical. Nevertheless, they can be even more important than the technique itself.<br />In this first lesson I want to give you a few simple yet fundamental advices.<br />First advice: find a few good masters whose works you consider particularly inspiring. They can be very different each other. For instance, I adore Michelangelo, but Kandinsky and Pollock have been essential as well in my education. So you are absolutely free to choose.Try to copy their works. Don’t bother about how they did it, do it your way! But try to guess what they meant to convey, to express.<br />Second advice: don’t look for your own style. Do not yearn to find a personal way to draw, but let it happen naturally. Basically you only have to worry about finding the best way to express your concepts. And you will have to refine your technique, in order to achieve this goal. Once you succeed in doing it, you will realize that your style has evolved, becoming more and more unique.<br />Third advice: in my experience practice is absolutely important. It means that you’ll need to spend some time, or rather a long time, on training.<br />The exercises are intended to be performed regularly. First the basic, then the advanced ones. That’s why I will make sure that each lesson is followed by an exercise video.The first one will be on the basics of shading. Don’t miss it!<br />Have a lot of fun with drawing: this is my last advice!Drawing Handshttps://plus.google.com/103934296408587372581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-251188412793994217.post-1774343233102572432012-02-04T15:39:00.000-08:002012-02-04T15:43:46.853-08:00Why YouTube needs a 'Visual Arts' category<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2qN5Xlj_aHQ" width="560"></iframe><br /><br />Why should YouTube add a "Visual Arts" category? The real question is "Why&nbsp;hasn't YouTube ever added such a category?"<br /><br />Lots of good artists started a good campaign to convince YouTube/Google to change their mind and make this small yet important addition to video categories, and I willigly joined them. This is my contribute, please spread the word! :)Drawing Handshttps://plus.google.com/103934296408587372581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-251188412793994217.post-76662193641435784542012-02-04T15:31:00.000-08:002012-02-04T15:32:02.455-08:00The Cliffs of Moher - Watercolors<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8wfGLA880eU" width="420"></iframe><br /><br />Not a tutorial, actually, but I guess that by watching this video you can have a good idea of how I proceed when working with watercolors. I hope you’ll like it!Drawing Handshttps://plus.google.com/103934296408587372581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-251188412793994217.post-14420894631944455982012-02-04T15:19:00.000-08:002012-02-04T15:20:51.894-08:00What about a good book?<a href="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwiitbabbo1qlsbqb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" class="toggle_inline_image inline_image" height="400" src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwiitbabbo1qlsbqb.jpg" width="392" /></a>If you wish to follow the classical approach, when drawing figures, as well as if you only want to put a few good basis to set up your own style, a good book may help you.<br />There are actually hundreds of good books, but the best thing, as always, is to copy all great masters’s drawings (and paintings, and sculptures too, of course!). One of my favourite books is a small collection of drawings by <strong>Michelangelo Buonarroti</strong> (edited by Dover). A very cheap, yet very useful resource.<br />So copy as much as you can from all masters of Renaissance, from all greek and roman ancient sculptures, from the Pre-raphaelites and so on.<br />A good knowledge of human anatomy is also essential even if, when you’re drawing, you may want to force proportions or even choose to ignore them, depending on your own style. In order to deep in the study of bones and muscles, the best choice would be a medical book (e.g. I bought “Locomotor System” by Werner Platzer - it’s perfect!) About ‘classical’ art anatomy, I love the <em><strong>Albinus on Anatomy</strong></em>, and also <strong><em>Art Anatomy</em> by William Rimmer</strong> and <strong><em>An atlas of anatomy for artists</em> by Fritz Schider</strong>. There is another popular (and beautiful) book: <strong><em>Anatomy for the artists</em> by Jeno Barcsay</strong>, but the approach is much less classical. It’s on my wishlist, but I still haven’t it. :) If you want to search on Amazon, just put the author’s name on the search box and you will find all books on top of the list (just to have an idea of all prices)<br /><strong> William Rimmer - Art Anatomy</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />When I was a student I faced with the astonishing works of this talented artist: painter, sculptor, art anatomist, born in Liverpool in 1816 but very soon moved to Boston, so we can consider him a genuine American artist.<br />Nonethless, his works recall echoes of Michelangelo (particularly anatomy drawings, so incredibly detailed and even exaggerated in their proportions, as if he was looking for a kind of super-human body), William Blake (in his visionary paintings in which heroic characters act dramatically) and also some 18th-century landscape painters (and I must say that I love their lights and colours).<br /><strong><br /></strong><a href="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwiiu66k1A1qlsbqb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" class="toggle_inline_image inline_image" height="139" src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwiiu66k1A1qlsbqb.jpg" width="200" /></a><em><strong>William Rimmer’s Art Anatomy</strong></em> is a must have for all those who would like to know how to learn art anatomy and do well in it. When I first read it I felt a bit discouraged: it’s so detailed, even <em>maniacal</em>, sometimes figures look disproportionate (but don’t let it deceive you: it’s just a matter of style), but is one of the best <em>sketchbook</em> I ever saw. I couldn’t do without it.<br />William Rimmer is one of the many wrongfully ignored artists, born too close to the bursting wave of Impressionists and modern art movements.<br />But, let me tell you, it’s worth to consider his works a bit more and, if you are american, be proud of him!Drawing Handshttps://plus.google.com/103934296408587372581noreply@blogger.com0